Fettuccine with Tomato-Clam Sauce

Remember when Justin and I went to World Market the other day? There will be a lot of posts stemming from that trip, I can tell you. We picked up a can of clams and some anchovies, and this is what resulted.

It sort of reminds me of one of those seafood pastas you get at a restaurant will tons of mussels on top — but without the shells. I'm still sort of terrified of making anything in a shell since the last time I tried we ended up with extremely sandy clam chowder. Another day, maybe.

For now, canned clams will do very nicely — in fact, it's amazing what you can do with something so seemingly humble. If you know how to use it, canned seafood can be truly delicious.

Ingredients
{Printable Recipe}
1 can chopped clams packed in water, do not drain!
1 8-oz can chopped tomatoes without salt
1/4 cup white wine
8 oz vegetable broth (I measured mine out in the tomato can)
1 bay leaf
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1 anchovy fillet, minced
pinch saffron
pinch oregano
pinch tarragon
Salt
3/4 lb fettuccine, fresh is best!
Procedure

Saute the onions, garlic, anchovy, salt, oregano, and tarragon in some olive oil until nice and soft.

Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth, wine, saffron and bay leaf.

Let this simmer until it's reduced by half. 

Add the clams and their juices and let this cook another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the fettuccine according to the box (or blanch your fresh noodles for 3-5 minutes)

Toss in the sauce. Let this simmer again for another 5-10 minutes until the sauce has been soaked up into the pasta. 

Light and flavorful. Some chefs say don't put cheese on seafood, but some chefs are also crazy. Go ahead and put some Parmesan on that if you want ;-)

Stay tuned for what we do with the canned tuna.

-Katie